Timberwolves' former 1st-round pick leaves NBA to sign in Japan

This hasn't gone how the Minnesota Timberwolves would've drawn it up.

Their No. 6 overall pick in 2019, Jarrett Culver, is leaving the NBA.

Culver has signed a contract with the Sendai 89ers, which play in the top league in Japan.

He was once a star at Texas Tech who played himself into the draft lottery.

He played two seasons for the Timberwolves, in which he made 42 starts out of 97 games. Culver averaged 7.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 0.8 steals per game in Minnesota.

From there, he played 37 games for the Grizzlies in 2021-22. And in 2022-23, he was with the Atlanta Hawks for 10 games.

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The 6-foot-6 wing was let down by his shooting. He is a career 27.6% 3-point shooter in the NBA.

He spent last winter entirely in the G League with the Osceola Magic. There, he put in 13.5 points per game.

Culver hasn't played overseas before, but he likely got a strong contract offer to head across the Pacific.

Culver is still just 26 years old, but it seems like a longshot he'll ever make it back to the NBA, which is too bad. He once seemed like a potentially impressive two-way contributor, but it just never worked out.

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